Traffic stopping moose shot by DEC

Animal’s injuries appeared to severe

Wilmington  The injured moose which has attracted a lot of attention and traffic on the Wilmington Notch road was shot by the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday.

The bull moose, which was reported to be seen in the shallow water of the AuSable River on Sept. 23, DEC spokesman, Dave Winchell said the moose was repeatedly spotted coming back to the river over the past few days and appeared to have minor injuries to it’s back legs.

DEC spokesman, Dave Winchell, said earlier in the day on Sept. 25 wildlife biologists and wildlife technicians had thought the moose’s injuries were minor and hoped they could entice the moose to leave the river and go deeper into the woods.

“Originally we thought it was doing alright and it’s injuries weren’t life threatening,” Winchell said. “But later the technicians noticed both back legs were injured and the animal appeared to be in severe discomfort.”

The DEC agents who evaluated the animal’s condition on Wednesday said the moose appeared to be very uncomfortable and unable to get out of the water or move.

Over the course of the weekend word had spread throughout the area of the moose sightings at the river. Winchell said the increased traffic of cars and people trying to park and see the moose was beginning to be a safety concern.

“We determined with human safety and the traffic concerns and the animals discomfort the best thing was to kill the animal,” Dave Winchell said.

Winchell said the moose’s carcass has since been brought to the DEC Pathology Laboratory in Delmar to evaluate the extent of the animals injuries and determine the animals overall health at the time of it’s death.